Demographics of Nova Scotia

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Nova Scotia (Latin for New Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba Nuadh; French: Nouvelle-Écosse) is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in the Maritimes, and its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second smallest province in Canada, with an area of 55,284 km². Its population of 934,405[1] makes it the fourth least populous province of the country.

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[edit] Population

Nova Scotia is the seventh most populated province in Canada with an estimated 936,988 residents as of January 1, 2006. It accounts for 3% of the population of Canada. The population density is approximately 17.2 persons/km². Roughly 60% of the population live in rural parts of the province.

[edit] Most populated urban areas

The largest urban area in Nova Scotia is that surrounding Halifax.
2006 census population figures for the next biggest urban areas are shown in the table below:

Rank Urban area 2006 population
1. Halifax 282,924
2. Cape Breton - Sydney 33,012
3. Truro 22,376
4. New Glasgow 20,876
5. Glace Bay 19,968
6. Sydney Mines 15,500
7. Kentville 13,552
8. New Waterford 9,661
9. Amherst 9,547
10. Bridgewater 8,021
11. Yarmouth 7,162
12. Kingston - Greenwood 6,528
13. Antigonish 4,665
14. Windsor 3,986
15. Springhill 3,941
16. Pictou 3,813
17. Wolfville 3,772
18. Lake Echo 3,527
19. Port Hawkesbury 3,517
20. Enfield 3,415
21. Liverpool 2,759
22. Berwick 2,524
23. Lunenburg 2,317
24. Digby 2,097
25. Shelburne 1,879

Source: Statistics Canada [2]

[edit] Population of Nova Scotia since 1851

Year Population  % change Rank*
5-year 10-year
1851 276,854
3
1861 330,857 19.5
1871 387,800 17.2
1881 440,572 13.6
1891 450,396 2.2
1901 459,574 2.0
1911 492,338 7.1
4
1921 523,837 6.4
7
1931 512,846 2.1
1941 577,962 12.7
1951 642,584 11.2
Year Population  % change Rank*
5-year 10-year
1956 694,717 8.1
7
1961 737,007 6.1 14.7
1966 756,039 2.6 8.8
1971 788,965 4.4 7.0
1976 828,570 5.0 9.6
1981 847,442 2.3 7.4
1986 873,175 3.0 5.4
1991 899,942 3.1 6.2
1996 909,282 1.0 4.1
2001 908,007 0.1 0.9
2006 913,462 2.9 2.8

Source: Statistics Canada [3][4]
* among provinces.
** Preliminary 2006 census estimate.

[edit] Languages

The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 913,462.
Of the 899,270 singular responses to the census question concerning mother tongue the most commonly reported languages were:

1. English 832,105 92.53%
2. French 32,540 3.62%
3. Arabic 4,425 0.49%
4. Algonquian languages 4,120 0.46%
Mi'kmaq 4,060 0.45%
5. German 4,045 0.45%
6. Chinese languages 3,370 0.37%
Mandarin 595 0.07%
Cantonese 505 0.06%
7. Dutch 2,440 0.27%
8. Polish 1,570 0.17%
9. Spanish 1,305 0.15%
10. Greek 1,035 0.12%
11. Italian 905 0.10%
12. Korean 860 0.10%
13. Persian (Farsi) 715 0.08%
14. Serbo-Croatian languages 670 0.07%
Croatian 250 0.03%
Serbo-Croatian 235 0.03%
Bosnian 95 0.01%
Serbian 85 0.01%
15. Scandinavian languages 615 0.07%
Danish 235 0.03%
Norwegian 175 0.02%
Icelandic 120 0.01%
Swedish 80 0.01%
16. Russian 585 0.06%
17. Portuguese 560 0.06%
18. Urdu 550 0.06%
19. Vietnamese 500 0.06%
20. Ukrainian 440 0.05%
21. Panjabi 420 0.05%
22. Tagalog 415 0.05%
23. Hindi 410 0.05%
24. Bengali 395 0.04%
25. Hungarian 340 0.04%
26. Celtic languages 330 0.04%
Gaelic languages 305 0.03%
27. Japanese 290 0.03%
28. Gujarati 220 0.02%
29. Czech 180 0.02%
30. Romanian 170 0.02%

There were also 145 single-language responses for Turkish; 140 for Non-verbal languages (Sign languages); 125 for Malay; 120 for Bantu languages; 100 for Kurdish; 100 for Slovak; and 95 for Estonian. In addition, there were also 105 responses of English and a non-official language; 25 of French and a non-official language; 495 of English and French; and 10 of English, French, and a non-official language. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.[5]

[edit] Migration

[edit] Immigration

The 2006 Canadian census counted a total of 45,195 immigrants living in Nova Scotia.
The most commonly reported origins for these immigrants were: [6]

1. United Kingdom 11,665
2. United States 7,960
3. Germany 2,850
4. Netherlands 1,830
5. China 1,740
6. India 1,440
7. Lebanon 1,265
8. Poland 970
9. Kuwait 780
10. Egypt 675
11. former Yugoslavia 670
12. Greece 545
13. Italy 540
14. France 530
15. Iran 520
16. Pakistan 450
17. South Korea 430
18. Ireland (Eire) 425
19. Philippines 420
20. Viet Nam 375

There were also 365 immigrants from Australia; 320 from South Africa; 280 from Hong Kong; 255 from Saudi Arabia; 245 from Iraq and from Trinidad and Tobago; 225 from Hungary and from Russia; 220 from Portugal; 215 from Switzerland; 210 from Denmark; and 205 from Belize.

[edit] Internal migration

A total of 101,035 people moved to Nova Scotia from other parts of Canada between 1996 and 2006 while 110,335 people moved in the opposite direction. These movements resulted in a net outmigration of 11,925 people to Alberta and 4,120 to Ontario; as well as a net influx of 4,690 people from Newfoundland and Labrador and 2,930 from New Brunswick. During this period there was a net outmigration of 835 francophones to Quebec and 340 to Alberta; and a net influx of 575 anglophones from Quebec and 145 francophones from New Brunswick. (All net inter-provincial movements of more than 500 persons and official minority movements of more than 100 persons are given.)[7][8]

[edit] Religion

According to the 2001 census 36.5% of Nova Scotians were Roman Catholic (37.2% in 1991), while 15.9% belonged to the United Church of Canada (17.2% in 1991) and 13.4% were Anglican (14.4% in 1991). About 10.6% of the population identified as Baptist (11.1% in 1991), 2.5% as Presbyterian (3.5%), 1.7% as just "Protestant" (2.0%), 1.2% as Lutheran (1.3%), 1.1% as simply "Christian" (0.6%), and 1.0% as Pentecostal (1.2%). 0.5% of the population reported belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses (0.6%), and 0.4% to the Salvation Army (0.6%); while 0.4% identified as Muslim (0.2%), 0.3% as Mormon (0.3%), 0.2% as Wesleyan (0.2%), 0.2% as Jewish (0.2%), 0.2% as Greek Orthodox (0.2%), 0.2% as Buddhist (0.2%), and 0.2% as Seventh-day Adventist (0.2%). 11.6% said they had "no religion" (7.5% in 1991). [9]

[edit] Employment

As of September 2006, Nova Scotia unemployment has dipped below the national average for the first time in recent history to 6.9 per cent.

[edit] Per capita income

In 2005, per capita income was $28,114 (Can).

[edit] Gross Domestic Product

Nova Scotia GDP is presently approximately $33 billion (Can) annually.

[edit] See also

NS
Canadian Provinces and Territories
Demographics of Canada's provinces and territories

[edit] References